Chicken, waffles and gravy, the weeknight-easy way

By J.M. Hirsch, AP Food Editor

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

This is my weeknight-friendly take on fried chicken served on waffles, a total comfort food perfect for a cold winter night.

And two totally respectable convenience foods make it a snap to get on the table in almost no time — rotisserie chicken and frozen waffles. I’m a big believer that if you eat a lot of chicken and have a crazy busy schedule, a rotisserie chicken should be a staple of your weekly shopping list. Don’t worry about what you’ll do with it. Since the cooking is already done for you, sorting out how you’ll eat it is the easy part.

I feel the same way about frozen whole-grain waffles. I try to always have a box in the freezer. It’s not because my family eats all that many for breakfast. But frozen waffles are a versatile workhorse in the kitchen. I use them for sandwiches in my son’s lunches — PB&J, ham and cheese, peanut butter and banana, etc. — all the time.

For this easy dinner, I used both of these go-to ingredients, and dressed them with a killer mushroom gravy. No frozen waffles handy? You can serve this chicken and gravy over toasted slabs of sourdough bread, too.

ROTISSERIE CHICKEN WITH WAFFLES AND GRAVY

Start to finish: 20 minutesServings: 4

1 tablespoon olive oilTwo 4-ounce containers sliced button mushrooms

1 medium yellow onion, diced2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup white wine1 cup heavy cream

Salt and ground black pepper4 frozen waffles

Meat from a 2-pound rotisserie chicken, warmed and shredded

In a large skillet over medium-high, heat the oil. Add the mushrooms, onion and garlic, then saute until the mushrooms are browned and the pan is nearly dry, about 5 minutes.

Add the wine and stir to deglaze the pan. When the wine has evaporated, stir in the cream, then bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, then set aside.

Toast the waffles according to package directions.

Place one toasted waffle on each serving plate. Top with a heap of warmed, shredded chicken, then spoon ample amounts of mushroom gravy over it.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Food Editor J.M. Hirsch is author of the cookbook “High Flavor, Low Labor: Reinventing Weeknight Cooking.” Follow him to great eats on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JM—Hirsch or email him at jhirsch@ap.org.